Kraken fire Dan Bylsma as head coach

After a single season on the job, the Seattle Kraken have fired head coach Dan Bylsma, reports Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.

Named head coach of the Kraken last May, Bylsma wrapped up his first season in Seattle with a 35-41-6 showing and 20 points shy of the second wildcard seed in the Western Conference. In all, it marked the third time in the franchise’s four-year history that it had failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Last Tuesday, Kraken CEO Todd Leiweke confirmed that team general manager Ron Francis will return for a fifth season. However, on Monday, Seravalli indicated the possibility of Francis being promoted to another front office position and assistant GM Jason Botterill assuming the GM duties.

For Bylsma, the 54-year-old Michigan native was elevated to the Kraken last spring following two seasons with the AHL affiliated Coachella Valley Firebirds in which he guided the club to back-to-back appearances in the Calder Cup Final.

Prior to the Kraken, Bylsma’s most recent NHL head coaching stint came with the Buffalo Sabres from 2015-17, with the team missing the postseason both years. Bylsma was also behind the bench of the Pittsburgh Penguins for six seasons from 2008-14. Bylsma joined the Penguins with three months remaining in the 2008-09 campaign, where he put together an 18-3-4 showing before guiding the club to a Stanley Cup championship. The Penguins also qualified for the playoffs in each of the following five seasons under Bylsma.

Bylsma has also served four seasons as an assistant coach with the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings, three years as an assistant with the AHL’s Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and Charlotte Checkers, plus one year as head coach in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

The Kraken will begin the upcoming campaign with their third head coach in five years, following Bylsma and inaugural bench boss Dave Hakstol.